Project by

About this project

“I love my Supertoy Teddy. We talk all the time and he’s become one of my best friends” Esther aged 8.

Supertoy® is a talking teddy bear with a mind of its own and the ability to hold real conversations with those who speak to it: Kids from 8 to 80.

In the Press - Teddy brings the world together!

We are absolutely thrilled and humbled to be mentioned on KurzweilAIThe website of someone: Who is one of the greatest minds of the 21st century, Mr. Ray Kurzweil. American author, inventor, futurist, and a director of engineering at Google.

We are massive fans of The Gadget show(a television show) in the United Kingdom. They were the first to write about us so a very special mention and many thanks.

Also its wonderful to see support from the Toy Industry a Big Thank You ToyNews the market leading toy industry magazine.

The world's 'first' talking teddy

Talk with Supertoy about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING!

We are Ashley and Karsten, two friends and colleagues. In the recent past Karsten created the successful and beloved Jeannie, the Siri style chatbot that's been downloaded over 3 million times on mobile devices.

When we were growing up, we loved robots that talked in films and remember the magic they created. But instead of just experiencing them on screen, we pushed ourselves to create this same magic in real life.

We are passionate about all toys, and hope that what we have created is something that will build on this legacy and benefit others who share our vision.

That's why Supertoy is something new and innovative. Rather than creating something that was limited by scripted sentences, we set out to create a toy that you could converse with about anything and everything.

Supertoy has a mind of its own

Unlike most other robots, our toy isn't controlled by a human user. For a robot to hold a realistic conversation, it has be aware and autonomous. That's why our software mimics human emotion and speech generation.

No remote control required

Supertoy uses artificial intelligence. A smartphone acts as its BRAWN and the internet server as its BRAIN. This allows our software to react to what you say - and to further recreate human like speech, Supertoy's robotic mouth moves in synchronization to what it says and inbuilt speakers enhance the volume of its voice.

In the future we’ll be adding more robotic movement to make Supertoy even more life-like, so you’ll see him not just talking, but also seeing and showing body movement.

For Ages 8 to 80

Supertoy
Teddy is for all ages, but we believe that childhood is a very precious time in life, and want to help keep it that way. Supertoy Teddy has the potential to act as a
child’s first introduction to the world beyond their home.

For parents worried that their child may be exposed to unsuitable visual material on the internet, Supertoy is the safe and child-friendly way to access the educational potential the internet has to offer.

Change and add functionality

Supertoy has been designed with an ethical stance and generous emotions in mind. And he can learn, grow, change and add functionality, which means if you want Supertoy Teddy to be your wise guy badass pal its your choice! Our toy won't only get on with young children but with adults too.

The possibilities are endless. A playmate for a child with no siblings at home. A source of knowledge for teenagers stuck with their homework. A chatty companion for an elderly loved one who lives alone. Supertoy Teddy will be all of these.

And if you need a little help imagining his practical use for teenagers and adults:

Weather - “What’s the weather going to be like in San Francisco on Friday?”

Time - “What time is it in Tokyo?”

Alarms - “Wake me up at 7.00am”

Sleep - “Play rain effect for 25 minutes”

Read - "Read me a bed time story”

Play - “Play classic FM radio”

Remind - “Remind me to water the plants at 5pm”

Phone - "Phone Chris"

Mail – "Send an email to Keiko sorry I am working late"

News – "Tell me news about Barack Obama"

Ask - “What is the capital of Brazil?”

Translate - “translate I love you into Spanish”

Spell – “spell supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”

Questions - “what is my horoscope for Cancer?”

No need to memorize any commands: If Teddy doesn't do what you ask, our software will adapt and learn from you speaking to him.

Supertoy is personal to You

Supertoy Teddy is user centric. He knows your likes and dislikes. He will remember everything you tell him and talk about topics specifically that interest you!

Supertoy is Multi-lingual

Supertoy can speak over 30 languages out of the box. We plan on rolling out voices specific to each language over time to make him sound local but from day one he is multi-lingual. Great for doing your French homework! Parlez-vous français anyone?

Supertoy mimics Emotion

We are using cutting edge software to change the tone of Supertoy Teddy's voice so he it express basic emotion. Depending on how Supertoy Teddy feels, its voice will be expressed accordingly. This is essential to add depth and realism.

With Your help

Right now, we've reached the stage where we need your help to manufacture our first production run of Supertoy's. We want you to help us realize our dream and turn movie magic into robotic reality. We're on a journey but we've only just begun to explore the possibilities of what we can do. With your support, we're confident Supertoy can grow into something huge!

Our Stretch Goals!

Costumes

These are the last 4 costumes with AI role play software. Especially for the Canadian National Post Newspaper and all our Canadian friends, we've included a Mountie :-)

Smart Gyroscope Actions

Modern smartphones have built in altimeters and GPS which basically allows us to know where Teddy is and if he's being picked up, if you're walking with him, etc. This will allow new intelligence, for example, Teddy can say things like 'Where are we going?' and 'Gentle now.'

Bluetooth

Many of you have asked for this as it's an easy way to connect to Teddy without putting him in the back zipper pocket. We listened, and you guys are right, so we're offering this hassle-free way to connect to Teddy.

Speech 3-8

Our current voice recognition technology works from 8 years of age. But many of you have younger children who will also want to converse with Teddy. This is for you guys. I stress it will not be fluent conversation for the 3-8 age range, but they will be able to communicate with Teddy.

Language Fluency

Although Teddy speaks over 30 languages, for some of these he will not seem a completely fluent speaker. It's a little like when I speak Japanese - a Japanese person can tell obviously that I am not a fluent speaker. For several key languages we want to offer total fluency.

SDK (Software Development Kit)

We will let you experiment with our software, and give you the chance to make your own version of Teddy. Can you make him better?

If you pledge £90 or over we will send you a free back pack for Teddy.

Walk with pride :-)

What You Get

For $1 your name will live forever. Imagine in the future when Robots take over the world and want to know WHO were their creators? They will know it was YOU. Then with their futuristic technology they create a clone of you from your DNA. You will live forever (not guaranteed all liabilities waived).

For $25 your Tee, a message to the Artificial Intelligence future your in the know, includes shipping USA and UK.

With a pledge of $59 (£39) or more you get your own Supertoy (smartphone not included), includes free shipping.

Supertoy

The ultimate, the one and only Supertoy in his Supertoy outfit.

$99 A single Supertoy Limited edition, the first 300 ever made! He comes
with his own Supertoy Outfit ready to save the world and an
embroidered number from 001 to 300. Shipping inclusive.

We are adding role play to Teddy software!

Pretend play isn't only brilliant fun, it’s actually good for kids... It develops their intellectual skills by encouraging their imagination and enhances their social skills by encouraging interaction with other children.

For example Child says Teddy "lets play cowboys"... teddy then role plays like a cowboy and says things like "Howdy Partner", the child plays and interacts with Cowboy Teddy... when the child has finished playing role play he says "Teddy stop playing cowboy"
Even more fun Teddy is dressed as a cowboy! or a wizard, marine, footballer, fisherman.. let their imaginations run wild!

How Does it Work?

First you need to download the free
Android or iPhone app and connect your smartphone to Supertoy. There
is a zipped compartment in the back of Teddy to place and connect
your phone to the robotics.

We put in the hours, working with the
manufacturer over the past 6 months to get the hardware just right.
Currently we are on prototype No.3 ready for production. Don't worry about Teddies battery life: there is also a micro USB receptacle underneath his tail so you can talk with him for as long as you want!

Software wise we are making great
progress, its built upon Jeannie, a virtual assistant app that’s
been downloaded 3 million times from the Apple and Google Play store. We are working on the engine to make it run much deeper child friendly dialogues. The voice that you were hearing is being transformed into a fully functional text-to-speech voice, specifically created for our Teddy.

Below is our estimated production timeline. We'll post an updated timeline during testing and manufacturing. Every single day of this timeline and eternally we thank our backers and supporters!!!

Risks and challenges

In production of any new consumer item we need to be ultra careful of safety, we will be putting Supertoy through over 100 tests by a top world-recognized laboratory who specialize in testing toys. There is the possibility we may need to adjust Teddy which may result in some unforeseen delays, this will be worth it as we want to guarantee 100% safety above everything else.

Thats totally up to you as long as the phone is connected to the cable then it can be outside the toy, the option to put the phone inside the toy is to keep the magic, if the child see's the phone outside they don't see it as the toy working but the phone.

After you run the Teddy app you can then lock the phone if you don't want your children to access it.
Cushions inside of the teddy protect your phone further.

People are starting to build up smartphone collections, as they move onto the next new best model, their old one is just left lying around gathering dust, so what better use for your old phone than as a Supertoy?

If you are really interested in teddies innards, the following will show you an early prototype.
It is like exposing the skeleton and muscles of your favorite pet, not recommended for the fainthearted.

NOTE: The voice you are about to hear will not be used in the final version, and is purely for testing purposes only.

3 AA batteries for moving around anywhere, lasts approx 4-5 hrs continuous mouth movement so much longer for conversational use. We would suggest rechargeable batteries for the sake of the planet :-)

When you are stationary for long periods you can use the USB charger, plug into your laptop, pc, or electrical socket in the wall with a (socket not supplied). USB is only for the robotics not the phone.

Rewards

Pledge £1 or more

Your name will forever be remembered in the Supertoy Teddy Universe. Any teddy manufactured when asked “do you know <name>?” will reply “yes I know Dear <name>”!

Estimated delivery:Dec 2013

You selected

Pledge £39 or more

16 backers
All gone!

$59 The one and only Supertoy Teddy. FREE SHIPPING within USA and UK.

Estimated delivery:Dec 2013

Ships anywhere in the world

You selected

Pledge £39 or more

291 backers

$59 The one and only Supertoy Teddy. FREE SHIPPING worldwide.

Estimated delivery:Nov 2013

Ships anywhere in the world

You selected

Pledge £42 or more

554 backers

$64 The one and only Supertoy Teddy. FREE SHIPPING worldwide.

COMES WITH NEW OUTFIT!!! AND ROLE PLAY A.I. SOFTWARE

Estimated delivery:Dec 2013

You selected

Pledge £65 or more

32 backers
All gone!

$99 A single Supertoy Limited edition, the first 300 ever made! He comes with his own Supertoy Outfit ready to save the world and an embroidered number from 001-300. FREE SHIPPING within USA and UK.

Estimated delivery:Dec 2013

Ships anywhere in the world

You selected

Pledge £65 or more

265 backers
Limited (1 left of 266)

$99 A single Supertoy Limited edition, the first 300 ever made! He comes with his own Supertoy Outfit ready to save the world and an embroidered number from 033-300. FREE SHIPPING worldwide.

Estimated delivery:Dec 2013

Ships anywhere in the world

You selected

Pledge £499 or more

3 backers

Your very personal Teddy. We spend one day with you customizing your Teddies to give all the responses that YOU want.

Estimated delivery:Dec 2013

Ships anywhere in the world

You selected

Pledge £3,000 or more

0 backers
Limited (5 left of 5)

An all-inclusive factory tour in Asia! -- Bear witness to Teddy's creation with your very own eyes. First we will fly you out to Hong Kong, where you will enjoy dinner and a night on the town with the Supertoy team. The next day will comprise a visit to Shenzhen where our factory is located and a tour of the manufacturing floor. You will be given the unique opportunity to pick your own Supertoy as he is being made right before your eyes! To conclude the trip, we'll spend the night before heading back to Hong Kong for the remainder of the trip. This trip will include air fare + hotel + meals for 3 days. Limited to 5.

Estimated delivery:Sep 2013

You selected

Pledge £5,000

1 backer
All gone!

Your voice will be Teddy. Yes, we will create your own voice that anyone can use as the voice of Teddy. Let your voice live on forever!

Estimated delivery:Dec 2013

Funding period

Jul 23, 2013 - Aug 22, 2013
(30 days)

Eureka! You've found our little secret.

Sign up for our Happening email for all the inside info about arts and culture in the Kickstarter universe and beyond.